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Former DePauw Prof. Saad Ibrahim to Receive Pundik Freedom Award

July 8, 2008

July 8, 2008, Greencastle, Ind. - Egyptian dissident Saad Eddin Ibrahim, who taught sociology at DePauw University from 1967-74, is the 2008 recipient of the Pundik Freedom Award, which is presented by the Danish daily newspaper Politiken. The award of 100,000 Danish Kroner (U.S. $20,000), given to leading international human rights and democracy advocates, is being made in recognition of Dr. Ibrahim's "outstanding effort in the service of human rights and civil society in Egypt."

The award was introduced last year with Russian human rights activist Garry Kasparov as the inaugural recipient. Ibrahim will be presented with the 2008 award at a ceremony in Copenhagen.

Ibrahim, director of the Cairo-based Ibn Khaldun Centre for Development Studies, has been imprisoned several times by the Egyptian government for his criticisms of the government of President Hosni Mubarak. For the past 13 months, Professor Ibrahim has been living in exile between Turkey and Qatar, but he is now seeking to return to Egypt.

Professor Ibrahim has made several recent visits to DePauw. An account of his 2003 return to campus, which includes video and audio clips, can be found here. In May 2004, he received an honorary degree from DePauw. In 2001, Dr. Ibrahim's former students and colleagues staged a "teach-in" to protest his jailing in Egypt. Read more here.